About

ServeMinnesota is the place to start if you’re interested in joining with others to solve tough community problems. As a catalyst for positive social change and community service, ServeMinnesota works with AmeriCorps members and community partners to meet critical needs in Minnesota.

As the state’s administrator for federal AmeriCorps funds, we provide grants to nonprofit organizations that have been selected to run an AmeriCorps program. ServeMinnesota provides training and technical assistance, and monitors these organizations to ensure that they adhere to all federal rules and regulations related to their AmeriCorps grant.

We Are AmeriCorps in Minnesota

ServeMinnesota is the state's designated recipient of funding for the AmeriCorps program, often referred to as "the domestic Peace Corps". We administer a portfolio of 12 AmeriCorps programs with more than 1,500 AmeriCorps members addressing a variety of critical human needs spanning educational achievement, economic opportunity and environmental protection. Nearly 1000 sites across the state are hosting an AmeriCorps member this year. These sites include schools, local nonprofits and community organizations.

ServeMinnesota's primary strategic goal is to invest its AmeriCorps resources in a manner that achieves the greatest impact on solving critical issues for the state — thereby serving as a catalyst for positive social change in Minnesota. We align the power of AmeriCorps with successful approaches that provide cost-effective solutions and yield measurable results. By applying evidence-based practices, bringing scale to what works and demonstrating positive outcomes, we have a formula for increased impact.

Our education initiatives combine the power of AmeriCorps with proven learning methods to help thousands of children achieve grade level proficiency in reading and math — two critical indicators for future success. Without AmeriCorps resources, thousands of children would not receive the critical interventions they need to succeed in school and life.

Strategic Initiatives:

Minnesota Reading CorpsOur largest strategic initiative, Minnesota Reading Corps, is providing a rich test case on how to take a program that has maintained impressive results as it has grown and accelerated its capacity to truly move the needle on the critical statewide priority of ensuring children become proficient readers by 3rd grade. Today there are more than 1,000 AmeriCorps members working with 30,000 children in more than 600 sites across the state. Statewide, eight out of 10 Reading Corps participants, all of whom were at significant risk for failure, passed Minnesota assessment tests - matching scores for all Minnesota children. Given that 100% of Reading Corps participants were not reading at grade level, this pass rate demonstrates significant progress for children who might otherwise be left behind. Implementation and management lessons from scaling up Reading Corps over the past 10 years can now be extrapolated and used to pursue similar growth and impact in other issue areas.

Minnesota Math CorpsIn 2007, recognizing that the Minnesota Reading Corps model of combining the people power of AmeriCorps with the science of how children learn could be applied to other academic areas, the ServeMinnesota Board of Directors endorsed the creation of Minnesota Math Corps. Math Corps was launched by a community-wide planning process in the St. Cloud School District that identified the achievement gap in math as a district priority. In addition to ServeMinnesota, the community planning partners included the local United Way, school district officials, St. Cloud State University and three local corporate/philanthropic organizations (Bremer Bank, the Initiative Foundation, and Central Minnesota Community Foundation). The subsequent expansion of the program beyond St. Cloud occurred because of additional partnerships and collaborations with districts seeking to address the same need; this year Minnesota Math Corps is serving students at 90 schools in 25 districts across the state.